Risking Friendship For Love
by greengrl
Summary: Family and friendship. These are the most important things in life, but are they worth risking for love? Lily and James as well as marauders. M just to be safe.
1. 1 Easily Persuaded

Lily stretched out and yawned as she turned another page of her potions book. It was the second week of summer and already she had completed her summer assignments and was spending her free time doing extra work, not that this was necessary as she was already further ahead of her classmates in all subjects. The potion she was reading about was a love potion and she smirked as she could imagine her friend Emily trying it to win her latest boy crush. Lily on the other hand was only interested in the intellectual purpose and made a few notes down the margins then closed the book for the evening. It was 8 o'clock on a Friday night and she was sat studying for extra credit. Lily sighed and wished she could be surprised but this was how she had become since the end of last Easter holiday. Her boyfriend has broken with her at the beginning of summer term and Lily had been heart broken, he was a Ravenclaw quidditch player and was referred to as "Mr Perfectly Boring" by Emily. Steven has been a prefect, quidditch captain and a great guy, so when he had turned around and said that he felt like they needed a break, which turned into a full on break up, Lily was shocked and heart broken. However she didn't wallow, she instead put all her effort into her studies and now was top of every class and had no time at all to think about him or his stupidly soft blonde hair.

Lily placed the book on the side table and looked in the mirror above her dresser and sighed. Her hair was pulled tightly back into a knot on her head and a quill stuck through the middle for safe keeping, her clothes were plain and she had no make up on and it made her think of all the reasons why Steven had decided to end it. She was just settling into a pit of self-wallowing when her door was burst open and with screams and black hair flying all over the place, Emily stormed in.

"Ha! Beat you to it Petty-wetty! You can't out run a witch even if she is in killer heels!" Emily said loudly while laughing to herself. Emily grabbed the door and went to shut it behind her when Petunia appeared out of breathe and furious.

"You freaks can't just burst into normal peoples houses and…." Before Petunia could finish the door was swiftly slammed in her face which a satisfying thump.

"God she was born with a broom stuck up her butt." Emily said plopping down on Lily's bed and spreading out like a cat. Her clothing being much like a cat she wore fitted leather trousers and a black top with the highest black boots to match. She looked like a cross between a witch and a black cat with a stripper edge. There couldn't have been a more different person to Lily, yet here she was in her best friends room still quietly chuckling to herself about annoying Lily's muggle older sister. Petunia's view on the magical world were the same as her views on homeless people that slept in subways, they were inconsiderate and should do a better job do be kept unseen. Needless to say Emily took great pleasure in trying to change her views.

Throughout this little altercation Lily had not really moved but just watched her friend move into her room with easy grace that Lily always envied. She was uptight and liked to keep order and Emily was like a rogue weather condition, ready to tornado through your life. Which is how they became friends in the first place really.

Lily had been sat on the train to Hogwarts in her third year, playing magicals cards with her old friend Severus. They had been arguing about some of the boys that Severus had begun hanging around with due to being in Slytherin while Lily had been sorted into Gryffindor.

"Sev I heard Rookwood hung that first year up for half an hour just because he bumped into him in the corridor! And Bella almost pushed me down the staircase last term for no reason at all! I just don't understand why you would want to hang around with them!" Lily said for the tenth time while they had been travelling. Severus sighed and opened his mouth to respond when the door of the carriage swung open.

"Well, well, well who knew little Snape had a little muggle girlfriend. Why don't you let us meet your little friend Sev."? A tall, blonde haired boy called Lucius Malfoy smirked as he leant against the door frame with his hench men from Slytherin behind him.

"Leave it Lucius. We were just leaving." Severus said pulling Lily to standing and leading her to the door. Lily frowned about to say something then thought better of it.

"Don't let us spoil your party. Why don't you let us meet your friend Sev, what's your name, I'm sure a girl with hair as red as yours has some fire in her…" He sneered and reached out and touched her hair. She swiped his hand away and his faced turned into a more viscious sneer.

"Oh so you picked a prude Sev, well I can help you with that," Lucius grabbed a handful more of Lily's hair and Severus went to push Lucius off her but before he'd even the chance one of the boys behind Lucius had frozen Severus. Lily was shaking with fear and trying to get out of his grip.

"Don't be afraid my little mudblood. I'm only having a bit of fun. Girls would kill to be touched by someone with bloody as pure as mine." Lily didn't say anything but instead tried to slowly inch her hand to her pocket when her wand was. Before she could reach it there was a blinding light and a scream of pain… from a male voice.

The blinding light cleared and Lucius was bent over covering his hand, which seemed to have been burnt by whatever the light source had been. He looked around and couldn't see the culprit so he glared shouted at his hench men that the "little slut" wasn't worth it and to leave it. Lily let out a huge breathe of air she hadn't realised she was holding and looked around still nervous as to who had helped her. Before she knew it a girl with long black hair appeared smiling.

"Are you okay? I over heard from next door and thought you might need a hand. Here," she waved her wand and Severus became unfrozen. He stood up and looked at Lily embarrassed.

"Lily, I'm sorry… I…" He faded off and looked out the window.

"Great friends you have Severus. I can see why you always defend them to me," Lily said quietly. Severus looked pained and was about to say something when he looked at the girl who had saved them and sighed. He then without a word just walked out of the compartment. Lily didn't know then but that was the end of their friendship.

At the time though Lily had just turned to this girl who was folding a piece of beautiful shiny material.

"Is that an invisibility cloak?" Lily asked raising an eyebrow as she had read they were virtually extinct.

"Yeah, I borrowed it from a friend as I didn't think charging in would solve your problems. I'm Emily by the way, Emily Potter." Lily had smiled at her and they both sat and from then their friendship had blossomed into an unconventional pairing.

Lily looked on her friend this evening and raised an eyebrow at her and didn't say anything. Lily was not the chatty one of the friendship and could often say things without even opening her mouth.

"I know what you're thinking," Emily said without even looking at Lily. "You're wondering why I am here and why I am antagonising the beast when I promise the only enter your house the muggle way because your sister in a magic hater. Well Lily Evans, I have a great reason and I know you are just going to love it!" At the last comment Emily lifted her head and looked at Lily with an evil glint that made Lily nervous as she knew this only meant trouble. Emily rose off the bed and innocently strolled across Lily's room, she opened Lily's closet door and was casually flicking through her wardrobe of clothes.

"So I was at home, doing my hair, when I thought to myself I need some excitement in my life. I haven't had a party yet this summer and the weather is great, I'm 17, I should be partying! Then I thought to myself, who else needs to relax, take the edge off and take a chill pill. And then I thought of you! So basically, in a nutshell: I am here to bring you excitement Lily Evans." Emily finished with a flourish and pulled out a few tops from Lily's wardrobe and threw them on her bed.

"Emily what are you talking about. I have plenty of excitement. Don't drag me into one of your little plans. I don't want to end up naked in someone's pool house with no memories and a sombrero." Lily said nervously looking at her friend as she dotted about her room.

"Lily, lily, lily, you need to chill out. I'm not suggesting we go to Mexico and drink tequila till we black out. I just want you to come to this little party, school people so you'll know people, you don't have to drink if you don't want to… what do you say?" Emily said giving her best baby kitten eyes to try and persuade Lily.

"You're going to have to do better than that Potter. Now go away I'm studying." Lily said rolling onto her bed and picking her potions book back up.

"God," Emily said quietly but loudly enough so Lily could hear, "Steven really did a number on you didn't he. You used to be at least a little fun." Lily's eyes darted to Emily and she glared at her best friend. She knew she was trying to use reverse psychology but she also knew that the comment had really hit a nerve.

"You know what Em, fine. I'll go. But I'm only doing this to shut you up. Where is it? Lets go." Lily said getting up and throwing her book down. Emily jumped up with glee and clapped her hands together.

"Great news Lils. But if you think I'm letting you go wearing that you have to be kidding me." Lily groaned at her friends comment and put her hand on her head as she knew what was coming.

"So I've pulled a couple options for you. But what I want to know if where is that box of clothes I lent you last Christmas. I told you, you need to jazz up your wardrobe a bit and I've never seen you wear any of it!" Emily said looking around. Lily looked sheepish and walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a large shopping bag bundled up on the floor.

"Well, well. At least you didn't throw it away," Emily said snatching it off Lily and opening it out on the bed. Out poured sexy and revealing clothes that Lily would never ever in a million years buy.

Emily sifted through talking to herself about something she knew she had put in here. She then cried out "Got it!" and pulled out a little black dress. It was strapless and had a fitted bodice that went out into a short full skirt that was covered in delicate beading.

"No way." Lily said before Emily could even speak.

"You can either skip the nagging, moaning and eventual giving in and put it on now or you can endure my incessant chatter until you eventually just put it on anyway. Which will it be?" Emily said holding the dress out. Lily paused then realised she didn't have the energy and just pulled off her shirt and trousers and pulled the dress on over her head. She closed her eyes and pulled it down until it rested on her properly. Then Emily closed the zip and stood back to take in her work.

"Perfect. But we need to pick out better accessories and better underwear and sort your hair and make up." She said as she circled and eyed Lily critically like a artist reviewing a painting. Lily just let her friend take control as she pulled and prodded her with make up brushes and hair products. She almost drew the line at the black slinky underwear, which Emily chose but she knew it was the only thing that would go with the dress. She only owned it due to Emily forcing her to in a moment of madness. Emily's final touch was to straighten out Lily's long silky hair and slick on a fire red lipstick. Lily threw on some heeled ankle boots and looked at herself in the mirror. Her clothes looked like something Emily would wear, but the girls in them didn't look confident or assured like Emily always did. So Lily pointed her chin up and stared at her reflection. She wasn't going to sit at home and feel sorry for herself, she was going to channel Emily and be a wild girl for a night.

She looked at Emily who looked extremely pleased with herself, then she smiled and pushed her friend out the door. As they walked down stairs Lily walked past her sister's room who gaped at Lily's transformation. "Slut" was the only comment she had to throw at her sister though. Lily walked down the stairs and called out to her Dad. Her Mum was no longer alive having died when Lily was five.

"Dad I'm going out. Might stay at Ems so don't wait up okay?" Lily called out knowing her Dad was probably too engrossed in his work in his study.

"Fine honey. Be good." Her Dad called, although he sounded distracted. Lily and Emily walked out the door and just at Lily was about to leave her gate Emily stopped her.

"No more public transport for you my muggle friend. I passed my test remember." Emily said pulling her wand out. Lily looked at Emily.

"Are you sure you're ready to do a side along apparition Em? I'm quite attached to having all my limbs." Lily said to her friend who was known for blowing the occasional thing up in charms.

"You worry too much." Emily said as she grabbed her friend and swished her wand. Lily squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten and prayed for her life. When she opened her eyes she looked around and tilted her head confused.

"Em, this is your house." Lily said looked up the front lawn of Emily's parents beautiful family estate.

"Really? I hadn't noticed…" Emily said sarcastically. "Did I not mention the parties at my house?" Then she took off across the lawn towards her front door. Lily looked bemused.

"A marauder's party? Really Em?! You could have at least warned me. You know I can't handle your brother and his friends." Lily called after her. Emily turned and laughed.

"Oh relax. My parents are away and the boys are throwing a little get together. How out of hand could it get?" Emily said innocently and Lily started walking up the hill sighing to herself and promising she'll never listen to her friend ever again. They reach the front door and Emily looks at Lily.

"Ready?" Emily says, then reaches for the old door handle and creaking open their great door.


	2. 2 Party Till You Passout

The noise that hits their ears is almost deafening. The party is in full sing and Lily almost turns around and runs. She does not do social engagements as it is, never mind wild out of control ones.

"Emily this is ridiculous!" Lily shouts over the music following her friends into the party. People are dancing, running around, and generally causing mayhem all over the huge house.

"Lily, that's the whole point! You seriously need to relax. Let's go get a drink." Emily grabs Lily's hand and walks her through the foyer into the living room and through the house to their large kitchen. As they go Emily reaches out and says hi to people, hugging girls and kissing boys on the cheek. Lily notices that she's getting a few stares as well as she walks. She pulls uncomfortably at her short dress wishing she'd just worn her jeans.

They reach the kitchen and Lily looks around at the chaos. Some Hufflepuffs are doing a magical round of beer pong, which involves levitating a knut into the oppositions drink. The more played the more the people playing magic gets wonky, therefore Lily saw to duck when a coin flew over her head. Emily was chatting to a boy who was next to the drinks, she recognised him immediately as Sirius Black. Notorious party boy, ladies man, idiot, marauder and best friend of Emily's brother. Lily looked at Emily curiously as she noticed her friend was flicking her hair and squinting her eyes in the sultry manner she had only seen reserved for gorgeous older boys and hot teachers. But Lily knew her friend would knew better than to do that as James was seriously protective over his sister and would kill any friend of his that dared to touch her.

Lily peered across the room to where to patio doors opened up onto the vast Potter gardens. She stopped however when she noticed a familiar blonde head of hair leaning over a small perky fifth year Ravenclaw called Sara. Her breath hitched and she froze. Steven was here, at this party, and Lily literally wanted to crawl into a ball and disappear. She looked around for an exit route but people were filing in complaining that the music had died and that they needed drinks so her nearest exit route was blocked.

Emily was busy chatting to Sirius so Lily grabbed the nearest bottle of alcohol and walked in the opposite direction to Steven. She ended up in one of the rooms at the back of the house where groups of people were sat around talking. I bumped into someone trying to move quickly but didn't stop to say anything. I heard them calling after me but I didn't stop.

Back in the kitchen Emily was talking to Sirius Black and trying not to get herself in trouble even though she could barely help it.

"Sirius, you seriously are trying to tell me that you are not trying to get with one of the willing and able young ladies at this party. I literally can't believe you'd tell me such an obvious lie after I've known you for all these years." Emily said smirking. Sirius let out a bark of a laugh and pushed back his raven black hair and looked into her eyes in a way that only Sirius Black could.

"You don't get it Em, I'm so bored. Bored of these childish little girls who just want me for my reputation and because I'm apparentely this 'bad boy'. I have feelings you know. I'm sensitive…" Sirius said giving her his best puppy dog impression. This was Emily's turn to laugh. This was not the Sirius Black way of life she knew so well.

"So you're changing your ways and looking for the one Sirius. That's different. Any particular things you're looking for?" Emily said raising an eyebrow and staring him right back in the eye as the conversation went from joking to intense. Sirius smiled.

"Well," he said peering into his cup of drink as if for inspiration, "She'd have to know me really well, know how to make me laugh, be trustworthy with secrets, have my back if I needed them… oh and obviously be freaking hot. Personally I've always liked brunettes…" Sirius said this last comment without a shred of smirking and Emily realised he had been leaning in closer and closer towards her. She realised she was holding her breath and waited for him to do something. He looked her in the eyes and just as he went to say something they head a voice that made them jump apart as if they were on fire.

"Lily's here Em. Did you know? She must be lost cause I didn't think Evans even knew what a party was." James Potter said flicking his annoyingly messy hair out his eyes and looking around surveying the party. His parents going away for work mid summer on a work trip couldn't have been better timed.

James looked at his sister and his best friend and waited for a response.

"She's not lost James she's just here to have a good time like the rest of us. Where was she going anyway? I kind of lost track of her." Emily said looking guiltily up at Sirius Black. Black just winked and looked at James.

"Where have you been anyway? Last time I saw you, you were dancing with that girl from fifth year that's obsessed with you. What's her name?" Sirius asked.

"Miranda," Emily said groaning. "James she's so desperate. Please set your sights a bit higher." Emily took a sip of her drink and looked across the kitchen thinking about her brother's terrible taste in women. Her sip didn't last long though as that despicable blonde haired cretin Steven came into her eye line. She spat her drink out and glared with total ferocity.

"Who let that dick into my party?" Emily said pointing at Steven. Sirius and James looked at him and shrugged.

"He came with a group sis. What am I meant to do?" James said shrugging his shoulders.

"You're meant to throw him out. He's my sworn enemy after what he did to Lily. I need to find her which way did she go?" Emily said now with urgency as she had inkling as to why Lily might have disappeared. James pointed through the door she went and Emily stormed off through it. James thought to himself that the guy had got off lucky as if his sister had gone after Steven he wouldn't have left the party walking. She was not to be messed with. James looked across at Sirius, who looked a bit sheepish.

"What have you been up to?" James asked looking at his friend.

"Nothing much. Just chilling. Here watch this," Sirius said trying to distract attention from himself. He reached for his wand and waved it gently over at Steven. His hair slowly started to turn into dry strands of straw then slowly began to snap off and descend to the floor. Steven didn't notice until the girl he was leaning over screamed and pointed and he felt his head to discovered an ever-growing bald spot. He screamed and ran out the house in terror at his precious hair being tampered with. James laughed and high fived his friend. He had never liked that pompous asshole anyway.

Back where Emily searched for her friend she came across room after room of drunken people having a great time. She finally reached the last room and it was the library overlooking the gardens. Lily was sat in the doorway with her head leaning against the doorway. She didn't seem to be moving so Em moved across the room.

"Lils, what are you doing in here by yourself. You promised me an hour remember…" Emily said in a joking tone. As she got closer she could smell the putrid smell of tequila. She leaned down and put her hand on her friends shoulder and a empty bottle slipped out of Lily's hand and rolled away noisily on the floor.

"Oh Lils, I'm guessing you saw Steven then." Emily said stroking Lily's hair. Lily moved at the mention of his name and looking blearily at her friend.

"Why wasn't I enough Ems," Lily slurred. Her breath wreaked but Emily just stroked Lily's hair and listened. "Why wasn't I good enough for him, I do everything right and was always there. I just never was enough." She rambled on and then moved as if to try and get up. However this didn't go to plan and she tripped and almost fell over. Emily grabbed her and held her up.

"Woah there cowboy, I think its time you went to bed." Emily steered Lily to the door and led her through the rooms towards to back staircase in order to avoid anyone seeing Lily like this. Lily could barely stand so she tried to take her the quickest way. Lily was seriously stuggling though so Emily pulled out her wand and whispered "Nuntium ad fratem… Back study now. I need your help." She sat Lily down and Lily blacked out completely in a large armchair in the study.

Lily remembers bit of what happens next, Emily stroking her hair and talking softly to her. Then a deeper voice, a mans voice talking to Emily.

"How did she get to this state Em? This isn't like her." The voice had said sounding a bit concerned.

"She's just hurting right now. She's not herself. Will you take her upstairs and put her in my room to sleep it off. Please don't tell anyone Prongs." Emily said using a nickname Lily didn't recognise.

"Okay Em." Then Lily remembers being picked up by strong, comforting arms and being carried upstairs. She remembers nothing after that until the following morning.


	3. 3 Hangover Hell

Lily's mind woke up but her eyes did not seem to want to cooperate. She groaned and moved a little and then realised moving was the last thing she wanted to do. Her head pounded like she had been stupefied ten times and she couldn't remember a thing.

Slowly she stretched her eyelids open and peeked out into the room she was in. She looked around the see red curtains drawn around the bed she lay in. She didn't recognise them, as Em's curtains were a deep purple so she began to panic. What happened last night? The last thing she remembered was the piercing heartache when she saw Steven with that girl then after that it gets a bit blurry.

She sat up and stretched out, having slept in a weird position her whole body ached; she looked down to see she was in a large quidditch shirt and her heart started to beat. Whose shirt was this and why was she wearing it? She'd certainly been in no state to change her clothes the night before. She knelt behind the curtains and peeked out trying to figure out where she was. The room looked exactly like Em's but was instead covered in quidditch posters and ticket stubs from old games. This must be James's room she thought to herself, she had no idea why she was here but she needed to move before Emily found out and killed her. She opened the curtain properly and was about to take a step and make a run for it when the bathroom door creaked open and a towel clad James Potter walked through towel drying his messy brown hair. He didn't notice Lily at first so he just walked over to his dresser and opened it and pulled out a t-shirt and some sweats. He dropped him hair towel and was about to pull off his body towel when Lily moved and coughed loudly enough to stop him dropping anything and flashing Lily what she did not want to see.

James swung around and looked at Lily, she smiled sheepishly and didn't know what to say, seeing as she had no idea why she was here.

"Morning Evans," He said looking at her with a bit of a smirk. "Good night?" Lily blanched.

"What happened last night? I can't remember a thing." She said hoping with all her being the answer did not involve sleeping with James Potter.

"Well not to burst your bubble as I know how much you want me," Lily rolled her eyes at him; he was so conceited. "But nothing much of anything happened. You for some reason decided to drink your own weight in tequila then pass out I tried to put you in Em's room but some drunk girls in the year below you, had already passed out in her bed so I put you in mine and I slept in a spare room. Em slept somewhere else too but I don't know where she is right now." He finished and Lily nodded, how embarrassing. Having to be carried to bed by James Potter, he was such an arrogant ass. James and his friends the marauders were in the year above Lily and Emily and Lily could not stand their immature antics. She looked at him now with a mixture of contempt and embarrassment.

"How exactly did I manage to get, into what I assume, is you shirt?" Lily said eyeing him. He looked back at her and smirked.

"Well after you decided to strip off and dance around my room it seemed like the right thing to do okay?" James said continually smirking.

"I did WHAT?!" Lily exclaimed. James burst out laughing and wouldn't respond to her. Lily was about to start shouting when the bedroom door opened and Emily strolled in, a tray of coffee and croissants in her arms. She of course looked fresh and beautiful as ever in a cute tshirt and skinny jeans.

"Ignore him Lils. You couldn't stand, never mind dance so I doubt you busted a move. Plus I put you in your top as I didn't want you to puke down my dress. I wouldn't let my sleazy brother touch you don't you worry." Em said placing the tray down.

"Sleazy?! That really hurts Em. I've turned a new leaf you know." James said with a heart on his heart trying to look sincere.

"Tell that to Miranda sleazebag. Now get out of here so I can get Lily out of her first hangover hole. Get lost." Emily said to her brother. He stuck his tongue out at her and grabbed his clothes and strolled out of the room. Lily relaxed a bit after he left, for some reason he made her feel on edge. Emily jumped onto his bed and lay bed and put her hands behind her head and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Lily asked looking at her friend. Emily just snorted.

"Explain last night Lily. One minute I'm dragging you to the party next time you're downing a bottle of Mexicans finest and passing out before the party even gets into full swing. Not like you at all. Explain." Emily said matter of factly. Lily squirmed uncomfortably.

"I don't remember everything. But I saw Steven, with that girl from fifth year and something in me just snapped. I wanted to be outside of my head. The Lily that sits and analyses everything and studies and works hard and has it all figured out. I just wanted to forget that jerk." Lily said. "Can we talk about something else? I don't feel good." Lily said in a quiet voice. Emily nodded.

"That's why I'm here. I know hangovers and I know the cure. Here drink this." She handed Lily a mug of cloudy liquid that smelt of different herbs. "Down it in one and don't think about the taste. Trust me." Lily took it off her, took a deep breath and downed the drink. She winced and closed her eyes as the disgusting mixture went down. But after a few moments the potion worked and her hangover lifted.

"Thanks Em. Sorry for last night." Lily said lying down next to her best friend. "Where did you end up sleeping? I heard your room was taken." It was Em's turn to look sheepish.

"I just slept in a spare room. No biggie. What shall we do today?" Emily asked changing the subject.

"Can we just chill out here? I don't feel 100% still and I'm guessing your house needs cleaning after last night." Lily said.

"Nah, the house elves sorted it already. Little miracles. Let's just chill come on I'll get you some clothes." They left James's room and went and got changed and then headed down into the house. Lily had on some of Emily's clothes so a pair of skinny tight jeans and a fitted white top wasn't her usual style but she didn't have another option. She walked into the kitchen with Emily and as she'd said it was all back to its normal pristine state. Not a single cup or bottle left out. The only thing left were four marauders sat around the breakfast bar talking.

"Morning all," Emily said walking into the kitchen and addressing the boys. The boys all looked up except for Sirius who was concentrating on his full English breakfast. James looked at Lily and smirked.

"I preferred my shirt on you Evans." He said with a smirk. Lily just glared at him and ignored his comment.

"What are you guys doing today?" Emily asked ignoring her brother as well.

"We were thinking of chilling at the house today, maybe going in the pool then heading to Diagon this evening. Want to join?" Remus, a third marauders and the nicest of the four said. Emily nodded and grabbed a piece of toast from James's plate who protested but let her have it.

"Sounds good. Lily and me are just going to chill around the house so we might join you." Emily replied. The boys nodded and James shrugged, he and his sister got on well when they weren't bickering. He didn't know Lily well as she spent most of her time studying, and before that with that loser from Ravenclaw but she seemed okay when she wasn't passed out.

The rest of the day went on with the group hanging out by the pool, then the evening came and the boys headed off. Lily went home as her Dad may eventually notice her absence.

"Make sure you owl me tomorrow Lily. I want to do something again maybe day after tomorrow okay. Next time no tequila though okay?" Emily said laughing, Lily groaned and agreed before floo-ing back to her house.

The rest of the week dragged on with Lily studying and helping out around the house as her Dad was fairly useless as keeping the house in order and Petunia was too busy sucking face with her lump of a boyfriend Vernon. She owled Emily regularly although something seemed to be different with her and she couldn't put her finger on it. However she responded with a yes when Emily invited her to come over the following Saturday and go with her and the marauders to Diagon Alley.

Meanwhile at the Potter house Emily walked through the back corridor leading to the staircase down to the kitchen. Only she generally used this staircase as it was near her room and the house elves used magic to get around. She was around to turn the corner on the staircase when an arm popped out and grabbed her round the waist and pulled her against a warm body.

"We need to talk." A deep familiar voice whispered in her ear. She sighed knowing who it was immediately.

"Sirius we can't do this here. James will kill us if he finds out what happened. You know he hates the idea of me dating as it is, if he found out what happened he'd kill you, whether you live here and act like brothers or not." Emily whispered desperately.

"What exactly happened though Em? We didn't do anything; we just made out and slept in the same bed. Nothing major." He said trying to act calm. She looked at him with a mix or hurt and annoyance.

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it. But we both know that it can't happen again. James would go mad. His sister and his best friend. Jesus. What were we thinking?" Sirius could barely concentrate on what she was saying, the more angry and stressed out she got the more her cheeks flushed a little red and then her mouth started moving faster and he couldn't take his eyes off her lips. "And you know it was more than just a stupid kiss, we can't let it happen again, it meant nothing, lets just…" She was cut off by him pulling her into him and kissing her hard on the lips. She gasped but reacted back so quickly they both didn't have time to register what was happening. He pushed her against the wall in the staircase and pushed his hands into her long black hair while he kissed her fiercely. She pushed back and pawed at his back in return. They finally stopped when they were forced to take a breath; this brought them back to reality and they sprang apart till they couldn't touch. They just looked at each other with a lustful fear as they knew it was wrong but they also knew they had both wanted it.

"Emily," Sirius said softly, "this isn't just some joke to me okay. I do care..." He was cut off by a loud shout from somewhere not too far away.

"Sirius! Where are you Padfoot, its quidditch time. Hurry up you great mutt, stop looking at yourself in the mirror!" James's voice boomed out.

The couple sprang apart even further and looked at each other before running off in opposite directions. Sirius towards James's voice and Emily to her room. She breathed heavily and laid on her bed wondering how the hell she had got herself into this situation and how she seriously regretted saying she would go to Diagon Alley on Saturday.


	4. 4 Diagon Drama

Saturday rolled around and Lily was feeling a bit resistant to go out with her friend. She kept thinking of reasons why she should stay in, cleaning to do in the house, or studying she should do or saving money instead of spending it on Diagon Alley. But all were reasons she knew would not be strong enough to persuade her friend who was due over in half an hour. Lily knew she had to come out of her shell, she was 17 and due to start her sixth year at Hogwarts in 3 weeks and she couldn't let herself be this wall flower she had become. She threw on some leggings converse and a cute t-shirt Emily had picked out for her once. Then threw some wizard money in her bag and her wand and walked downstairs. Her Dad, a lawyer for a firm he owned himself, sat in his library poring over papers as always. After Lily's mothers death he had thrown himself into his work, the girls basically raising themselves as he distracted himself from his grief with work.

"Bye Dad, I've going out with Emily. I'll see you later. Don't wait up." Lily called through the door, he looked up surprised as if he had forgotten about her.

"Sure thing Lily. Do you need anything? Money or something?" He asked, Lily smiled, in his own weird way she knew he cared, and she knew that all the work he did was partly so he could provide for his two girls.

"No Dad, I'm sorted. See you later." Then she strolled out the front of her house and sat on the porch awaiting her friend. She sat in the swinging chair and lay her head down. She hated that her mind was still so swamped with thoughts of Steven. They had dated for over a year but she had never had this over powering feeling of obsession. She thought she was over him but she knew that if she saw him again it would only bring out her feelings again. She needed to stop dwelling on him and just as she made the decision Emily popped her head over Lily's and grinned.

"Time to go Petal," Emily said. Lily sat up and looked at her friend. She always seemed in control, never let a boy hurt her or get into her head.

"Okay, lets go. But just think this time next week I might be apparating as well seeing as its my birthday on Tuesday." Lily said.

"You'll definitely pass. But let me enjoy being the designated driver for a little bit." Then Emily grabbed her friend and they twirled on the spot and a few moments later appeared outside the front of the Leaky Cauldron.

Lily looked around and smiled, she had loved this place from the first time Hagrid had taken her here for her first year supplies. She was across the room with Emily to where she saw the marauders were sat.

"Morning Marauders," Emily said plopping down in a seat next to Remus, even though there was little room on his side of the bench as James and Peter were squished in there already. Lily looked at her friends odd behaviour and sat comfortably down next to Sirius.

Sirius greeted Lily with a smile.

"Hey Evans, how's it going? Good summer?" He asked her. Lily looked at him, he'd never really spoken to her directly before.

"Fine thanks, I've just been studying a lot really. Seventh year is going to be killer." She replied looking across at Emily who had a bit of a glare on while she stared off into the bar. The other three boys were discussing where they needed to go shopping, all agreed zonko's was an important stop.

"Studying?!" Sirius explained. "Jesus Evans, you need to chill out. It's the summer holidays, no studying necessary. Lets go have some quick, sounds like you need it." Sirius started to move out of his bench and Lily jumped up while the rest of the group stood as well. They headed over to the wall between the Leaky Cauldron and the alley. James stepping forward and tapped the bricks in quick succession from years of practice. Lily still sighed with amazement when it moved away and the busy alley appeared bustling with witches and wizards doing their magical shopping.

"Come on, lets hit Zonko's first. We need to stock up." James said taking the lead and guiding the group through the busy street. Emily ran up to walk with her brother and was speaking to him about something. She said something cheeky and he laughed and gently pushed her on the shoulder. Lily watched on, as she had always been envious of Emily's close bond with her brother. Lily's relationship with her sister could not have been more toxic since Lily had begun Hogwarts.

"So Lily," Remus Lupin addressed her for the first time today. Thy had always been amiable as they both spent a lot of time in the library studying. "Have you heard if you're a prefect yet?"

"No, I haven't heard. I don't think I'll get it either. Arabella will I reckon, she knows everyone and gets pretty good grades." Lily said matter of factly. Remus just snorted.

"Arabella?! She spends way too much time giggling with her friends to be a serious contender. You've got it in the bag." Remus said kindly, Lily smiled at him as she followed him into Zonko's. The shop was buzzing with pops and bangs and sounds of their products being put to use. The boys spread out as they had already planned meticulously as to what they'll buy. Lily just strolled down the aisles and looked at everything, but did not touch, as she did not want to set anything off.

"Hey Evans catch this," Sirius shouted across the shop and threw a small white ball over. Lily caught it easily, and felt a shock run up her arms. She dropped it immediately and glared at Sirius.

"What was that for?" She protested, putting her hands on her hips. Sirius was laughing hysterically though and got the other boys to look who then joined in on the laughter.

"What?" Lily asked. "What's happened?" Emily glanced over when she heard the laughter.

"You are all idiots." She declared. "Lily touch your hair." Lily reached up to grab her hair and instead of the sleek straightened locks she had styled this morning she has a huge mass of bright white frizzy afro. She let out a gasp or pure annoyance.

"Sirius Black you absolute moron. Put my hair back this instance!" She exclaimed. He just chuckled.

"Don't panic Lily, it's just a tester. It'll ware off by the time you leave the shop. I think it's a good look for you though, very eccentric." Then he ducked as Lily threw the first thing she could find at him. It hit the wall behind him and exploded into a five frogs, which hopped away.

"Sirius Black you are so immature." Emily announced while casually looking at a small black box. Sirius' face then turned stony and he just ignored her and walked back to the boys to discuss their shopping. They were in there for almost an hour, and when the girls finally protested the boys finished up and bought about five bags full of products and then departed. Lily's hair, having sunk back to its natural sleek red.

They headed to a couple more shops; Emily wanted to buy a pet so she headed into the pet store.

"Em' I'm just going to grab a drink okay, I'll meet you inside." Lily said as she turned to head over to the ice cream parlour across the street. James turned to see that James was following her while the other boys had followed Emily into the pet store.

"I could do with a drink too Evans, so I'll join you." He said as he followed her. She shrugged and walked across the road. As they walked James saw a few people he knew and they looked at Lily curiously. They strolled into the shop and James walked to the front counter.

"I'll have a strawberry milkshare and a…. Evans?" James said looking down at Lily. She blinked.

"I'll have the same." She said surprised he was buying her favourite drink. He grabbed them from the young girl behind the counter who eyed James like a piece of meat and headed over to a table outside the front. He sat down and placed the drinks down. Lily sat across from him and squirmed a bit, she had never been alone with Emily's brother before and she didn't know what to talk about.

"So," James started. "Are you feeling better after your little tequila experience last week?" Lily cringed at this.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was an idiot. I should never drink. Ever." Lily replied taking a sip from her milkshake.

"Its fine. I was just surprised you would let such an idiot get to you. Steven Featherton is an idiot." James responded. Lily was surprised James was even talking to her about this, never mind being nice. He'd always ignored her or treated her like his sisters little friend in the past.

"Thanks. I don't know what I ever saw in him," Lily said looking at James. They sat and talked for a bit longer while they sipped their drinks.

"So are you excited to be a prefect?" James asked.

"I haven't heard back so I'm not sure if I've got it." Lily replied. James laughed.

"You've definitely got it Lily, none of the other bimbo's in our year could handle it. Plus I have an inside scoop for this year so trust me." James said, Lily looked surprised but wasn't sure if she should trust him. He just smiled sat back and looked around.

"Not to kill the happy news," James said. "But that idiot we were talking about is strolling down the alley as we speak." Lily's eyes bugged out and she turned to see Steven, back to his usual head of hair, strolling down the alley with a girl from Ravenclaw, a different one to the night of the party though. Lily froze and felt the dread she had felt at the party that night. James looked at Lily. Her face had dropped and she looked like she wanted to apparate right out of there, he felt sorry for her so he thought up something to help her. He stood up and Lily watched him as he sat down in the chair next to him. Steven was walking closer and closer and James knew he was going to see them any moment. He stretched his arm around the back of Lily's chair and leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Let's see how he likes it shall we?" He whispered softly making Lily jump out of her frozen position as his words tickled her ear. She looked at James and he just looked right back at her into her eyes, he moved his hand up to her face and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as they sat closely together, their faces inches apart. Steven slowly walked past the café and it was obvious when he noticed. His paced slowed and he stared for a moment at the couple sat closely snuggled together. He himself had his arm around his girls shoulder but he dropped it and glared at James for a moment. James saw this out of the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Job done," James said as Steven stormed off, the girl he was with trailing behind him confused as to his change of mood. Lily looked to see him stalk away and let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. James leant back in his chair but didn't remove his arm from the back of Lily's.

"Thanks James," Lily said smiling. "I think I needed that. He looked furious didn't be?" James just grinned.

"What can I say? I am James Potter: making guys want to be him and the girls want to be with him since 1972 thank you very much." He said cockily while brushing off invisible dust off his shoulder. Lily just snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Potter," Lily said slurping the last of her milkshake up and standing up. "Now finish your girly milkshake and lets go find the others." Lily added with more confidence than she had felt in a long time. James looked pretend hurt.

"This isn't a girly drink. It's delicious okay! Real men like pink!" James said indignantly making Lily chuckle. She didn't mention it was her favourite too though as they strolled across the street and into the pet store. The group inside were arguing over the pets.

"Get a dragon. Something like that will really set you apart from the other kids in school!" Sirius was exclaiming while throwing his arms in the air.

"Don't be an idiot Sirius, get an owl Em, its more practical." Remus added, the sensible one as always. Emily frowned looking around the shop, she couldn't decide what to get, she wanted something special. She searched around until she saw something hidden in the back of a cage. She looked closer and saw it was a little white ball of fluff.

"It's a pygmy puff." James said putting his hand on his sister's shoulder and leaning in to stare. Emily smiled up at James, as if remembering something.

"I wouldn't pick that one dear. It doesn't do much other than hide in the corner," The old female shop owner said from behind the counter as she picked up a rat and transferred it to its cage. The rat decided to take a nibble out of her finger and she dropped it into the cage with a huff of annoyance.

Emily stared into the cage at the little pygmy puff with interest, it moved a little and squinted up at her with big afraid eyes. She smiled and looked at James.

"Do you remember the ones we had as kids?" She asked him. He grinned.

"Yeah of course, we named them quaffle and snitch, and we used to race them all the time." James said. "Snitch always won though as he was mine and therefore superior." He added cheekily and Emily snorted.

"More like you cheated and let yours go earlier than me so he'd win." She said. "I'll take this one please." She said as she pulled her purse out. She paid for it and they all piled out of the shop and started walking down the street.

"So what are you going to call it Em?" Lily asked walking in line with her friend, she had never seen a pygmy puff before and was fascinated by what a cute little fluff ball it was.

"I'm not sure, I like giving things real names now, so it won't be quaffle or fluffy. The woman said it was a boy so maybe I'll call it Fred." Emily said looking thoughtful.

"Fred?! That's not a pet's name." Sirius said as he mocked her suggestion. Emily glared at him in response.

"Fred it is. My little Fred, the only man I need." She said in a mocking tone then she started walking a bit quicker. The others followed unknowing that her comment had been a dig at one person in particular.

The rest of the day was spent flitting in and out of shops, the group laughed and got on well and Lily realised what a good time she could have if she relaxed and took her nose out of her book for once. She actually liked the marauders, their friendships were clearly so close as they laughed at the same things and she could tell they all cared about each other. Especially when later in the day Peter was roughly pushed as they exited a bookshop near the end of the alley.

He stumbled and the boys all turned to see who had done it, when they saw they all glared. Lucius Malfoy stood there with his two hench men Crabbe and Goyle, two hulking morons or boys in Slytherin. All in the same year the boys had a fierce rivalry.

"Can't see where you're going Malfoy?" James practically spat at the blonde boy. "Maybe you should cut some of your long girl hair and you'd be able to see better." Malfoy turned and looked at James as if he was an insect on his shoe.

"Ah Potter, always one to crack a witty remark. I would watch where I was going but it seems the alley is full of rats these days so it's hard to avoid them." He said smirking and James just glared fiercer. Sirius stepped in though and laughed at Lucius.

"Lucy Lucy Lucy, why do you always have to be so rude. You go on about your heritage every other breath yet you seem to have forgotten the manners that go with it. Now apologise to my dear friend Peter and we'll all go on our way." Sirius said in a sickly sweet voice. Lucius face turned evil as Sirius voice in pet name for Malfoy.

"I'd sooner apologise to that mudblood than your little ferret of a friend." Malfoy said gesturing to Lily who took a step back at being addressed in such a vile manner.

"Big mistake." Emily whispered who had taken a back seat in this argument and was leaning against the shop doorway watching the confrontation. She glared fiercely at Malfoy but before she had a chance to act James, Sirius and Remus had pulled their wands out and pointed them at Lucuis. Before Lucius could retaliate sparks flew out of James' wand and Lucius cried out in pain as his face sprouted boils that quickly bulged and popped all over his face in a grotesque fashion.

"Go ooze somewhere else Malfoy. You're not even worth it." James said in disgust. Malfoy screamed in pain and his friends did nothing to help as they stood dumb founded next to him.

The marauders along with Lily and Emily walked off in the opposite direction, Lily was blushing over what had happened, she was always having to have someone stand up for her in these situations as she just hid.

They walked back to the walled exit to the leaky cauldron and they walked through into the pub.

"I think its home time. Shall we head off?" James said, ever the leader.

"Yeah I've had enough excitement for one day, let head back to ours and get some food." Emily said to the others.

"I think I'll head home actually," Lily said, she needed to go home and make sure her Dad had something for dinner.

"Okay Lil's, but will you promise to come straight over on Tuesday after your apparition test. I know you'll pass so promise!" Emily said. Lily smiled at her friend who had so much faith in her.

"Okay I'll come over I promise." Lily said, then she walked over to the fire place. James reached up on the high mantle piece for her and offered her the floo powder pot. He looked down on her and looked very straight faced, but had a slight glint of something else in his eyes, almost like he was confused about something.

"Thanks," Lily said as she grabbed a handful, "For earlier I mean. You didn't have to stand up for me, I'm used to idiots like him saying stuff." He just looked surprised.

"Well you shouldn't have to put up with it. You should always stand up for yourself Lily. Otherwise you'll just let people walk all over you, and I know that you are better than that. " James said very seriously. Lily nodded at his comment, how did he know? He had never really noticed her before this summer. She waved at the others and turned and threw the powder into the fire and disappeared with a cloud of smoke.


	5. 5 Secret Beginnings

Lily spent the next two days practising and reading up on apparition so she was fully ready when Tuesday came round. Her birthday was one of the last in the year, yet she had always felt like one of the oldest. She woke up on Tuesday morning and opened her eyes. She never felt excited on her birthday as it only reminded her that another year of her adolescents was drifting away from her.

She stretched out and rolled out of bed and downstairs. She always made breakfast in her house so she strolled into the kitchen ready to start something for Petunia and her Dad. Her Dad was already in the kitchen though to Lily's surprise making pancakes, although it looked like he was struggling though as he face was dusted with flour and the kitchen looked as though a bomb had hit it.

"Lily!" He said in surprise when she appeared. "Happy birthday sweetheart, here sit down, I've made you, or attempted to make you breakfast." Lily smiled at her Dad. He might be a workaholic and be distant, but every now and again he reminded her of the fun care free Dad she had remembered vaguely from before her Mum had passed away. Lily sat down and he talked to her about school and asked her questions about her apparition test that day. He never asked too much about her other life in the magical world so Lily liked having the opportunity to share some of it with him. He smiled at her and wished her luck, which he made her pancakes shaped like flowers and L's for Lily. Petunia came down after a little while and joined them. She stiffly wished her sister happy birthday and handed her a small present wrapped in prim floral paper. Lily thanked her genuinely and opened it to reveal a small box holding a necklace that Lily recognised. It was a delicate gold chain with a small cluster of gold stars dangling from it.

"Petunia and I both decided you were old enough to have this now. It was your Mother's favourite. She had always said you should have it as you were obsessed with staring at the stars when you were a child." Her Dad told her as Petunia stayed quiet. "In fact it was your sisters idea to give it to you." Her Dad added smiling at the sisters. Lily looked surprised at Petunia and Petunia looked annoyed that her Dad had added that piece of information.

"Well it was all I could think of. I don't know what your kind of people give for presents…" She said petulantly but Lily ignored the comment and threw her arms her sister. It was probably their first hug in about 6 years; since Lily found out she was a witch. Petunia froze for a moment, and then gave her sister a slight squeeze back before moving away quickly and busying herself with dishes. Lily knew deep down her sister loved her, but that she could never get over Lily leaving her behind when she left for Hogwarts.

"Thank you both so much." Lily said as she put the necklace on. "I love it, I really do." She smiled so brightly having not expected something so special. Petunia just ignored her but her Dad grinned, happy to have made his daughter happy.

"There's a bit of money as well for you, something you can use after school that I've put into an account for you." Her Dad said.

"Thanks Dad. That's so great, love you." Lily said grinning. It had already been one of her best birthdays so far, she hugged her Dad told him how she had plans with her friends after her test so not to wait for up for her and then she floo'd to the centre in the ministry for magic, which took the apparition tests.

Meanwhile a few hours later in the Potter house James Emily and Sirius sat around the kitchen counter eating their lunch, prepared for them by the house elves.

"Thanks Greffer," James said to their old house elf as he stuffed his face. "This sandwich is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted." He said all this with his mouth open and Emily groaned at her brothers disgusting habit.

"Do you want to try saying that again without showing us what you're eating James Potter." Emily scolded him. Instead he just opened his mouth and let her see what exactly he was chewing. She dropped the rest of her sandwich in disgust and was put off the rest of her lunch. Her right hand hung below the counter out of sight, slowly she felt fingers slide into her hand and tickle her palm. She jumped a mile at the touch and James looked at her strangely.

"What's your problem?" He asked.

"Nothing. Just shocked at how disgusting a brother I have." She responded quickly, as she shook off Sirius' hand quickly. James shrugged and stuffed the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth.

"Right, I'm going to go grab the brooms Sirius while you finish off your lunch. Emily you can join in if you want? Meet you out in the garden in five okay?" James said, Sirius nodded innocently in response, not letting on that anything strange had just happened.

As soon as James left the room Emily started whispering angrily.

"Are you mad? If my brother saw you pawing at his sister he'd throw you out or worse kill you. Do you want us to get caught?" She said desperately. He just looked at her with his puppy dog eyes that she knew she was going to cave to.

"I can't help myself Em. I can't resist you." He said as he hopped out of his high stool and leant over her. She blushed and looked down. He tilted her head her though to she looked up and into her eyes.

"What are we doing Siri'? This doesn't make sense. You're James' best friend, he'd die if he knew we've been messing around." Emily said quietly. Sirius frowned.

"This isn't just messing around for me Em. There's something between us, and you know it. You also know I'd do anything for you but I don't think of you as James' little sister anymore. I just want you to admit there's something there and then we'll find a way to tell James." Sirius said softly. She looked right at him and frowned but sighed, as she knew she couldn't say no to him.

He smiled at her knowing she was wavering, but she still hadn't admitted her feelings. Instead he just leant in a kissed her softly on the lips and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. Sirius Black had completely taken over her mind. She'd gone from thinking of him almost like a brother to having these feelings that made her so confused. What's worse is that he was living at the Potter house so she could never get away to think.

Sirius deepened the kiss and Emily lifted her arms around his neck and stood up. Sirius pushed his hands into her soft hair and kissed her cheeks and her neck and moved back to her lips. She gasped at his touch and held him closer, he then grabbed her waist and lifted her onto the kitchen counter to get even closer to her, resting between her legs as he kissed her passionately. She giggled when he lifted her up and he smiled against her kiss, she teasingly bit his lip and he groaned and kissed her gently one more time then pulled away. He stood back and stared at her while his breathing slowed down.

She sat on the counter looking cute and sexy and everything a guy could want. He swept his hand up to her face and stroked her cheek.

"I've got to go before your brother starts wondering." He said smiling at her. She smiled then her face turned serious again.

"Siri'…" She said quietly. He asked her what and she looked up at him and kissed him gently on the lips. "Don't hurt me okay… I'm not just another one of those girls okay." Sirius looked serious and watched her walk away and out of the kitchen. After she was out of earshot he quietly thought to himself that she was definitely more than any other girl.

Emily skipped upstairs and went to grab a sweater to wear outside. Her heart was racing, as it did after every time she got close to Sirius. She knew what she was doing with him would infuriate her brother, he had seen off enough boys that she had dated in the past. He was so protective over her, and if he found out she was sneaking around with his best friend he would be beyond angry. She grabbed a hoody from her vast closet and threw it on; she checked her reflection before she left. Never before had she cared about what she looked like in front of her brother's friends, but suddenly she cared, and she cared a lot. She picked up Fred her little pygmy puff and place him on her shoulder. He had slowly come out of his shell and now liked to sit on Em's shoulder.

Emily skipped down the stairs and out on the lawn with Fred snuggled into her neck. Her parents had been away for almost two weeks now, their high status jobs in the ministry meant a lot of travelling and she and James barely saw them anymore. They were just left to do as they please in their big empty house. As she neared the end of the lawn she looked on their own quidditch training pitch. It had been created when James and Emily were children and James had been obsessed every since. Emily walked into the small arena and took a seat in the small stand next to the pitch. The boys were warming up and flying around throwing a quaffle back and forth to each other. She sat in the stands and watched the two friends laugh and carry on, and thought to herself how deep into a bad situation she had gotten herself.

Sirius noticed Emily walk into the training area and he looked down at her. Just as he did James lobbed the quaffle at him and it hit him directly in the face. He fell from him broom and grabbed it just as he fell and dangled by his arm. Emily stood up, Fred jumped off her shoulder and she ran onto the pitch. James just laughed at his friend though instead of the normal reaction for someone almost falling to their death.

"Sirius you lump, pay attention." James said. Sirius easily swung himself back onto his broom and did a small circle to regain his balance, while grinning at his life threatening antics. Emily now on the pitch crossed her arms angrily. James and Sirius looked down at her.

"You two should be more careful. Mum and Dad aren't here to fix your broken bones." She said still angry as she walked back to the stands to watch them practice. She picked up Fred and stroked his soft hair whil her heart rate regulated.

James was quidditch captain with Sirius as a beater on the team so she should have known they could handle themselves but seeing Sirius hurt made her insides squirm. As she sat and watched the boys for a while after some time she saw a swirl of air and Lily appeared right in the centre of the pitch. She stumbled then stood straight and grinned to no one but herself as she looked around for her friend.

"Lily!" Emily declared happily. "You passed your test! Happy birthday!" Emily ran back onto the pitch and hugged her friend. Lily just grinned, so far her birthday was going great, she had received a perfect gift and now she had passed her apparation test.

The boys flew down to land and congratulated Lily, both giving her a hug. Lily got a strange feeling when James hugged her but she pushed those thoughts away and hugged him back. His smell was something she couldn't quite place but it was musky and smelled comforting to her. Lily blinked and tried to stop her blush when they pulled apart and the boys said they would stop training and they all headed up to the house. As they got back to the house Remus and Peter arrived and joined them. Emily bounced into the house and said she would be back in a minute, as she had to get something. The group headed into one of the living areas and all sat down and chilled. Emily sprinted in the room a few moments later and presented Lily with a gift.

"Specially for you Lilykins." Emily said handing her a small package. Lily grinned knowing her friend always got her the perfect present. Se unwrapped the pretty purple paper and revealed a small jewellery box.

"Open it! Open it!" Emily said jumping up and down on the spot with excitement. Lily opened the box and inside laid a small gold bracelet with a number of charms hanging off it. Lily gasped at how beautiful it was.

"Emily this is beautiful!" She picked out the bracelet and placed it around her wrist. Emily did the clasp and all the charms glinted and slowly transformed. Lily looked closer and the charms had become some of her favourite things. One was a star to match her necklace, one was a tiny book, another was a witches hat and another was a small delicate lily flower. She gasped at it and grinned at her best friend.

"Emily this is the most amazing gift ever! Thank you so much!" She hugged her friend and grinned broadly. The boys all smiled at the friends, then looked at each other and smiled.

"We bought you a present too Lily!" Remus said. The boys turned to confer and then James came forward with a small box, it wasn't wrapped at carefully as Emily's. Lily took it from them suspiciously; never having received a gift from them before made her believe this was some kind of a joke. She slowly opened the box and was greeted with a spray of bright pink confetti and glitter exploding in her face. She jumped surprised them raised her eyebrows at the boys. They burst out laughing at her expression.

"Sorry Lily, we couldn't resist. But there is an actual present in there for you!" Sirius said chuckling still. Lily just laughed and looked underneath some of the confetti, below it was a small mirror.

"It's a contact mirror." James said. "We gave Emily the other one. It means you can talk and see each other even when you're apart. We have them and guessed you two could use them as well." Lily grinned and looked at the beautifully ornate mirror.

"Thank you so much!" She said hugging each boy again to say thank you. "This has been one of my best birthdays ever. I really didn't expect anything." She grinned at her friends, she felt like she could call the boys friends now. They spent the rest of the day around the house, they had dinner, Lily's favourite simple meal of macaroni and cheese, and they also surprised her with a cake afterwards. It was clearly home made as well as the letters on the cake spelt "Happy Birthday Lily" in a messy icing scrawl. They finished the night by watching some muggle films, a selection of Lily's favourites; one a hilarious comedy and the second a romantic film. They watched the films in one of the Potters many living rooms where they had transfigured the room into a cinema area. They all lay on huge sofas and ate popcorn as they watched. Sirius was particularly amazed, as he had never seen a film before.

The first film began and the room lights went down. Lily was sat between Emily and her brother. Lily felt her heart rate speed up every time during the film when one of them would move and they would bump knees or knock elbows. She didn't know why she felt this about her friend's brother, she found him so arrogant but there was something about him that made her feel a bit breathless and embarrassed. She assumed it was the embarrassment of the past few weeks of her getting drunk and then him having to defend her against idiots like Malfoy.

The movie finished and they put on the second one. Emily was feeling particularly happy, her family and friends all together. This was what she needed, she was getting dosey so she pulled a blanket over her and snuggled into the sofa to watch the second film. As the film went on she watched the love story pan out and she started glancing left to Sirius so try and look at him without him noticing. He kept his eyes straight ahead at the film. About half way through though she slow felt his hand slowly inch under the blanket and his finger wound round her petite hand and gave it a little squeeze. She smiled to herself and laced her fingers with his. The film finished and he slowly snatched his hand back and got up and stretched. Lily was asleep with her head leaning against James' shoulder. Emily smiled at her friend.

"She's out, can you do your usual and carry her upstairs James?" Emily asked stretching as she got up. James just nodded and picked her up easily and walked upstairs. Remus and Peter all headed off to apparate home and Sirius had his own room so he slowly headed off towards the staircase. James carried her upstairs, surprised that all the moving didn't wake her up. He got to Emily's room and he booted the door open with his foot and walked in and lay Lily on Emily's bed. She shuffled a bit to get comfortable and her hair fell in front of her face. He gently brushed the hair off her face and smiled down at the red head. He had this feeling that there was a lot more to his little sister's friend than just being a bookworm. He just didn't think she had come out of her shell yet. He pulled a blanket over her then headed off to his bedroom. He was tired and wanted to go to sleep too.

In another part of the house Sirius was pulling his shirt off and getting ready for bed when he heard a gentle tap on the door. He called "come in" and it was quietly pushed open. His eyes widened when he saw it was Emily, and her eyes widened even further when she saw he was shirtless.

"Sorry… I'll come back when you're changed. I just…" She was mumbling like a fool and Sirius had never heard her so unsure of herself.

"Em' you've seen me shirtless a hundred times. Don't start being weird. We've known each other forever." Sirius said moving towards her and closing the door so no one over heard them.

"I know, I am acting weird. I just don't know how to act round you now. I don't know what we are. I don't know how I feel. There's so much I don't know I think my heads going to explode!" She exclaimed with such exasperation that Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit down on the edge of his bed and sat next to her while he held her hand.

"Emily, you're one of the few people I care about. You know everything about me, about my family, my secrets with the boys. You have to know I won't hurt you. I just need to know, if what I'm feeling is the same thing you're feeling too." He asked, the first sign of fear etching onto his face. Emily smiled at him, his face was so familiar, and she had known him for years. She reached up and stroked his long dark hair out of his face and he looked into her eyes.

"I feel it too Siri. But I don't want to tell anyone till we're one hundred percent sure that this is right okay?" He nodded and leaned in and kissed her. She reacted immediately and kissed him back. She stood up and leaned into him while her body rested between his legs. He rested his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him and she ran her hands through his hair. He kissed her so fiercely that she let out a little moan. He stopped kissing her lips and moved down and started kissing her neck. She then took control and pushed him back onto the bed, he scooted up the bed and she climbed on and lay next to him. They faced each other and kissed gently and cuddled like a couple that had been together forever.

"I can't believe I am cuddling in a bed with you. I never pictured you for a cuddler." Emily said mocking Sirius and his ladies man reputation.

"I'll admit. I have not been known for my cuddling expertise. You could almost call me a cuddle virgin. But I'm a willing student. I just need a good teacher." He said with his famous puppy dog expression. Emily laughed and started dotting little kisses all over his face.

"I'm happy to teach a willing student." She said as she leaned over and moved to straddle him. His eyes widened at her forward approach. She could feel through his jeans that he was enjoying what she was doing do him. He ran his hands up and down her thighs and she put her hands on his chest and leant down and kissed him lightly. She ran her hands down and pushed his t-shirt slightly higher so she could feel his hard stomach muscles. At this next move though he flipped her over and leaned half over her as she lay on her back. He kissed her gently on the mouth and smiled down at her.

"Lets not rush things Em. For once I actually want to take things slow. Even though other parts of me are thinking other wise." He said cheekily making her giggle. He loved to hear her laugh and he snuggled his face into the crook of her neck and kissed her just behind her ear, which made her moan a little bit. He moved slightly back and raised her eyebrow at her; she just smirked and ran her hand up and down his arm.

"Can I stay here with you for a bit?" Emily asked, "Lily was spark out and won't notice I'm gone as long as I get back to my room while she's sleeping." Sirius smiled and pulled his duvet back and over her, He slid down the bed until they were both snuggled under the covers with his arms around her and her head on his chest.


	6. 6 Back To School Bullying

Lily woke up feeling refreshed and well rested. She opened her eyes to the familiar purple curtains of Emily's four-poster bed, however she soon realised she was fully dressed and Emily was weirdly absent from the room.

She poked her head out of the curtain and watched her friend slowly tip toe into the room, her hair uncharacteristically messy and she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

"Em," Lily said making Emily jump about a mile in the air. "What are you doing?" Emily looked at her bed and Lily and immediately smiled broadly as if she was being totally normal.

"Oh you know, just popped out to the shops this morning for a few bits." She said as if totally normal.

"In the same clothes as yesterday?" Lily said raising an eyebrow. Emily looked down at her outfit.

"Oh you know, we both fell asleep in our clothes, I just thought I'd shower when I got back. Come on let's get ready and go down for breakfast." Emily said walking quickly over to her en-suite. Lily looked at her friend's strange behaviour.

They dressed and went downstairs where surprisingly the two boys were already awake and eating a breakfast which had been prepared by the elves.

"Morning," James said smiling as he ate his breakfast. Emily noticed that at Lily's appearance he stopped chewing with his mouth open. They sat down and enjoyed breakfast together.

"So what is everyone doing today?" Emily asked. James shrugged.

"I've got no plans, Pad's going to visit his cousin so I'm being abandoned." James said looking forlorn.

"She's my only decent relative. I have to make the most of it." Sirius said sipping from his cup of coffee.

"Anyway you're not a married couple James, you can live without him for a few hours." Emily said to her brother. He stood up and pretended to look hurt.

"But Sirius is my everything. I can't breath when he's not by my side!" James said in a mocking tone as he reached his hand out to Sirius who played along, grabbed it, and laid a gentle kiss on it. The girls burst out laughing and the boys pretended to look lovingly at each other.

"Well not to break up this happy love nest but me and Lily are going to chill by the pool so you can join us while you sulk over your lost love if you want." Emily said. James nodded and agreed to join them. He gave Sirius a big bear hug as they parted and Sirius headed off to apparate to his cousins house.

The girls went upstairs and threw on their bikinis; the weather was gloriously sunny so they needed to top up their tans. Or at least Emily did, Lily had the pale skin of a redhead so she slathered on the sun cream and headed down to the pool with a towel slung over her shoulder. James was already down there when they arrived and he was laying on a sunbed next to the water. Lily suddenly felt very exposed as she placed her towel on her sun bed and lay out next to him while Emily did the same on the other side of Lily. She lay down and pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and tried to relax.

"This weather is amazing. I'm so glad you're hanging out round here more Lily. Girl time is so much better than being stuck with the boys." Emily said.

"Hey! That hurts!" James said, but he did not open his eyes from his chilled out position. "So, Lily, do you parents not mind if you spend all your time here rather than at home?" He added.

"James…" Emily said a slight tone in her voice.

"What?" James responded oblivious to where he had gone wrong.

"No it's okay. My Mum passed away when I was little so it's just my Dad, my older sister and me. Neither of whom really pay a lot of attention to my where abouts. Although the majority of the time I'm at Hogwarts so it doesn't really matter." Lily said in a light tone trying not to seem like she was feeling sorry for herself as she really didn't.

"Oh I see. Well sorry if I put my foot in it. It's weird you've been friends with Em for years and I don't know anything about you. You keep yourself to yourself don't you Evans." James said. Emily just snorted.

"More like I keep my friends away from you James." Emily said from across Lily. "Right I'm going to dip in the pool and cool off, its seriously hot today." She added and went over to the side of the pool and dove in. Leaving Lily and James alone while she did a few laps of the pool they lay there in silence.

"So are you excited to go back to school next week?" Lily asked James trying to make conversation.

"Yeah I can't wait. My last year is going to be epic." James said confidently as he rested his hands behind his head and stretched out. Lily peeked at him behind her sunglasses and appreciated his amazing body. She quickly glanced away though when she realised what she was doing. "How about you?" He asked her.

"I guess. School is school I suppose. I don't think I have quite as much as you do." She answered thoughtfully.

"You could though. You just need to come out of your shell a bit. I know there's a fire in there somewhere Evans. How else could you put up with my sister?" He said cheekily and she grinned. They chatted for a bit longer about school and other things and the conversation flowed, Lily even laughed at some of the jokes James made which surprised her as she had always found him a bit conceited. After a while Emily called to them.

"Will you two stop being boring now?" She called as she finished up her tenth lap. They both stood and Lily didn't notice James subtly sneak a peak at her body in her tiny little green bikini. He tried not to look though as he knew it was weird to be perving on his sister's best friend. She dived gracefully into the pool and he grinned to himself and the girl floated around. He took off his glasses and took two quick steps to the edge of the pool and dive bombed in making sure both girls got a great deal of water in their faces. They both groaned and splashed him back. They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming around and sun bathing.

The sun eventually started going in and they headed back indoors and Lily left to go home. She waved goodbye to her friends and left to go home. The rest of the holidays carried on in a similar fashion until the first of September rolled around and they packed and headed off to Kings Cross.

Lily dragged her trunk up the platform looking for her friends and trying to manoeuvre the crowds. She was running a bit late and she couldn't see anyone. She reached about the middle of the platform and she was bumped into so harshly that she cried out in pain and dropped her trunk and almost fell but managed to regain her balance.

"Watch where you're going little mudblood." A high girls voice said viciously to her. She looked up and stared into the eyes of Bellatrix Black. Lily could hardly believe that this vile person was related to Sirius.

"I…" Lily stuttered. Bellatrix laughed at her and looked back at the boy behind her, Rudolphus Lestrange Lily thought his name was. They both laughed cruelly at her and said something about stupid mudbloods. As they continued to laugh something in Lily snapped. She stood up straight and took out her wand.

"How about you watch where you're going Black? You might be something special around your little Slytherin friends. But I know you're just a racist piece of trash." Lily spat at her. Bella was so shocked at Lily standing up for herself that her mouth just gaped open in shock. She regained her composure quickly though and whipped out her wand and pointed it at Lily. But before she knew it the wand was flown out of her hand. Rudolphus reached for his wand to retaliate for his girlfriend but a male voice spoke out first.

"I wouldn't bother Lestrange. If I were you I would want to keep a low profile, especially on a platform full of ministry workers dropping their kids off." James said, standing in a nearby carriage doorway. He had Bellatrix's wand in his hands and was twirling it round and smirking at the two.

Lily looked up at him and he grinned at her.

"What gives you the right Potter?" Bella said practically spitting the words out. James continued to smirk.

"Well I'm headboy Bella so I would say that gives me a lot of right to stop you attacking my fellow students. So how about I take off ten points from Slytherin, give you back your wand at the end of the train journey and we call it even okay?" He said in a patronising voice. "Now go away and kiss your piece of filth boyfriend far, far away from my eyesight." He finished and Bellatrix stormed off in complete fury. Rudolphus stayed for a moment though.

"You've got it coming to you Potter. Just you wait." He said threateningly, James just laughed though mockingly and let Rudolphus follow in the same direction as his girlfriend.

"Well, well, well." James said looking down at Lily. She blushed having once again to be saved by James.

"Sorry," She said, "I keep having to be rescued by you in these situations."

"I think you did just fine saving yourself actually Lily." James said bending down and grabbing her trunk and lifting it onto the train. "In fact. I would go as far as saying that was pretty much you finally showing that fiery spirit I was talking about." He added as she hopped onto the train and followed him down the carriage. Lily smiled to herself as they walk, maybe he was right. Maybe she did have more fire in her than she thought.

"Congratulations on getting head boy. How come you never mentioned it?" She asked him. He turned and smiled.

"I might seem like the arrogant type Lily but I don't really like to brag really. Anyway now that you know I'm head boy I can confirm that you are in fact this years prefect. I know its meant to be announced at the feast but you might as well know." James said grinning. Lily stopped and stared.

"They picked me?" She said dumb founded.

"Of course they picked you! For such a smart girl you really can be stupidly unaware of how brilliant you are." James said just as he stopped in front of a compartment. Lily caught up with him and looked inside and saw Emily, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all sat inside.

"Look who I found. James said dragging her trunk in and placing it on a luggage shelf. Lily stepped inside and was greeted warmly.

"Lily! James finally told me about you being made prefect! Congratulations, I knew you would get it." Emily said jumping up and hugging her. "Can you believe he kept being head boy a secret? I only found out this morning when I caught him playing with his badge." Emily added poking her brother who looked a bit embarrassed.

"I didn't want to seem like I was bragging." James said looking around embarassed. Deep down he just hadn't wanted to make Remus feel bad, he was outstanding in all subjects and had been a prefect, but because of a little incident the year before with Snape he had been taken out of the running.

"Well you should have. This year is going to be amazing now we have you running the show. Just think of everything we'll get away with now…" Sirius said looking dreamily out of the window imagining all the trouble they could get up to.

"You're pathetic." Emily said rolling her eyes. "And you're extremely lucky Potter. How they chose you I'll never know. But well done brother. Thank you for making it even more impossible for me to be the favourite in our family." She added with a frown but in a joking tone. James ignored her and sat down on the floor, as there were no seats left. Lily joined him and they all sat and relaxed while the train journey began.

The journey went quickly as the group talked and played games; Lily enjoyed spending time with the marauders. They were seriously funny and Lily found herself laughing at their jokes and stories. She noticed Emily was quiet however, sitting quietly in the corner reading witch magazines and looking out of the window. Something was up, but Lily would ask her about it later when the boys weren't around.

The train began to slow as the sun began to set and they slowly inched into Hogsmeade station. They had already changed into their robes earlier in the ride, the girls having gone off to the toilets.

They exited the train and walked up to the carriages let by invisible horses. On their way they passed a few Slytherins who whispered conspiratorially to each other whilst looking at Lily and James. Lily felt uneasy but James just laughed and walked confidently up to the first carriage.

"Ladies first," He said offering his hand to help Lily up. She climbed up and felt her hand go warm as if she had touched a hot plate. They all sat on carriage and looked up at the beautiful castle, a light with candles and looking exactly the same as they had left it.

The feast went without event, Lily was announced prefect and she smiled and tried to act surprised as people congratulated her. A meeting was announced for prefects after the feast and Lily realised that from now on she would have weekly meetings with James as he was now in charge of all the prefects. This years head girl was a nice girl was Hufflepuff called Mary, Lily knew of her vaguely and remembered that she spent quite a bit of time in the library as well and remembered that she was dating the previous years head boy, Amos Diggory.

The meeting went off without a hitch; James declared that the rota for patrols would be up by early next week. Lily smiled watching him be mature and responsible, he really wasn't the person she thought he was. The meeting was about halfway through when the door flew open and Steven came in with a girl from Ravenclaw, obviously the other prefect.

"Sorry to be late Potter. We got held up in the feast." Steven said pompously. James glared at him.

"Not a great start Featherton. How about you sit down and shut up so we can get on with the meeting? Don't make a habit of being late else I might have to speak to Dumbledore about picking a more punctual candidate." James said harshly, Lily had frozen when Steven had walked in but James cutting him down like that made her relax a bit as she remembered what an idiot the boy was.

When the meeting came to an end the group separated, Steven skipping out first with one last scowl at James. Lily and James headed off to the dorm's together whilst the other prefect, a boy called Frank, departed in a different direction saying something about meeting his girlfriend Alice. James and Lily walked in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"So," James said finally breaking the silence. "How did I do? Do you think I'm a good leader or do you think the castle will be in mayhem before the weeks out?" He asked jokingly with an edge in insecurity, which surprised Lily.

"You did great. Firm and to the point but with a nice edge. Definitely a good start. Lily said, and James looked pleased.

"I'm going to sort the rota out with Mary tomorrow, do you mind if I put us on some patrols together? It'll make the time fly if I'm not stuck with some Slytherin idiot or Featherton." James asked.

"Yeah of course," Lily said smiling as they reached the portrait and climbed in. The room was fairly empty so they bid each other goodnight and headed off the different boys and girls staircases. Both had thoughts of each other flying around their heads.

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	7. 7 Time Flies When You're Keeping Secrets

The first day of school on Monday was for Lily an exciting day, but for a few of the group it was not such an excitement. Sirius, for instance, could barely speak as he blearily ate his breakfast, he just grunted every few minutes, then when finished lay his head on his arms and began to snore softly.

"Padfoot is such a morning person." James said proudly of his friend patting him on the back and getting an angry grunt from him. The others just laughed and continued with breakfast. As they ate a group of Slytherins walked past and were laughing at something and looking at Lily. She couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but she knew it was something referring to her being a muggle born. She didn't even flinch though and just stared back at them straight in the eye. They stopped laughing, and just glared at her but she just stared back so not to let them see her falter.

"Lily have you checked our schedules, all the same classes again. Thank god. I need someone to copy off else I'm doomed!" Emily said inspecting their schedules closely. Lily just rolled her eyes knowing that her friend was equally as clever as she was but just didn't push herself.

They all headed off for class and the school year began. Classes started and they received a shed load of work from their teachers. Lily spent most of her time in the library studying as per usual, she was often joined by Remus who also enjoyed the peaceful library. Emily occasionally joined her but she was more of a last minute sort of person and recently she had been spending a lot less time with Lily. She was always going up to the owlery to send a letter, or heading down to the kitchens for something to eat. Lily thought it was strange but she knew her friend, the likeliest story was that she had a new boy but as Emily was always very secretive about these things due to her over protective brother. Lily was not a prying person so she knew her friend would share her secret when she was ready. If only Lily had known the real reason…

"We can't keep sneaking around Sirius." Emily said as she let him kiss down her neck as they hid in a little alcove on a deserted corridor. He just groaned and pushed himself a little more against her. She groaned and tipped her head back further and forgot the point she was trying to make.

He ran his hands down to the hem of her school shirt and pulled it out of her skirt so it was now untucked. Her school uniform drove him wild. She held her breath as he undid the buttons whilst simultaneously dotting kisses up and down her neck. She leant against the wall for support as her breathing quickened. She pushed her hands up and into his hair; he let out a little growl to say he liked it when she played with his hair. He completed his task of unbuttoning her shirt and opened it fully so he could see her body. Her chest heaved in a sexy nude lace bra and he couldn't take his eyes off her. He kissed her forcefully on the mouth and ran his hands up her sides and stroked the soft skin under her breasts. She pushed into his kiss and ran her hands down his back as he touched her. He began to move his hands higher and caress her chest and she let out a little noise of appreciation. He seemed to come out of his reverie a little at her noise and he slowed the kissing down. He took a breath and leaned his forehead against hers. Both of them were out of breathe and staring into each others eyes.

"Like I said," Emily said laying a gentle kiss on his lips. "We can't keep doing this." Sirius smiled, both happy and sad at the same time. Happy that he had this amazing girl with him, and sad that he couldn't tell the world. He ran his hand down her stomach making her shiver and starting doing the buttons of her shirt up. She signed guessing their little meeting was over. He reached the top button and put his finger under her chin and pulled her in for another kiss. This one had depth and made her tingle all the way to her toes. He then took a step back and let her tuck her shirt in and neaten her hair which had been mussed up during their tryst.

"Come on," Sirius said taking her hand. "Let's go to the astronomy tower for a bit. I'm not ready to let you go yet." He added squeezing her hand, he pulled out the marauders map to make sure no one was coming and they headed up a back passageway to their destination.

A few days later in other parts of the castle Lily was sat peacefully reading a book on transfiguration, Remus was a few chairs down studying as well. He looked rather pale, which was normal for Remus, but today he looked especially ill today. He stood up after a while and started to put his books away.

"I'm not feeling so great Lily so I'm going to go lie down. See you later okay," Remus said smiling weakly at Lily. Lily nodded.

"Are you okay Remus? You look like you need to go to the nurse." Lily asked concerned.

"No I'm fine. Just that bug that's been going round I'm sure. I have a potion in my dorm I'll take." He said as he picked his bag up and headed out. He crossed paths with James as he left and nodded to him, James nodded back not saying anything but he had a look on his face that said he was worried about his friend.

"Hey Lily," He said putting his bag down and sitting across from her. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Hey, how's it going?" She asked politely, but quietly as the librarian was a strict old bat who would tell her off if caught talking.

"Yeah fine. Newts aren't as bad as people make out." James said pulling out a scroll and quill and quickly writing some notes. He sat quietly and worked and tried not to look up at Lily. She had her head tied up on top of her head with a quill stuck through the middle. She had one loose strand of hair hanging down her face though and James' spare hand twitched, wanting to push it out of her pretty green eyes for her. He shook his head at the thought though shaking it out of his head and he blushed slightly as if Lily might read his mind.

Lily was none the wiser and sat writing her notes. They were sat in comfortable silence until James whilst concentrating particularly hard on a silent spell accidently transfigured his spare parchment into a parrot, which squawked loudly flew off into the library stacks. Lily looked at him straight faced then let out a belting laugh, which echoed in the quiet library. James looked bewildered in the direction of the parrot then at Lily who was bent over in creases of laughter. She had tears in her eyes at she looked at the completely bemused expression on his face mixed which his scruffy hair just made a hilarious picture. James had never seen Lily laugh like that and soon he was laughing as well. They only stopped when the old and cranky librarian came upon them in a fit of anger and told them to either "shut up or get out" which quietened them to a quiet chuckle.

Lily grinned at James and he grinned back and just shrugged his shoulders.

"What exactly were you trying to achieve?" Lily whispered to him. James looked a bit sheepish.

"I was trying to conjure a carrot. It's this new spell section at NEWT level, which means conjuring something that is organic. I thought I had it but at the last minute it went wrong… obviously" James said running his hand through his already messy hair and looking particularly funny and confused.

"Well it rhymes. So kind of close!" Lily said in a serious tone but with a mocking look on her face. James just gave her a disapproving look.

"I'd like to see you do better Evans, I am after all… head boy." He said pointing his nose in the air and pretending to look down at her condescendingly. Lily just smirked. She pointed her wand at her inkpot and knotted her brow and waved her wand in an elaborate sweep. The pot hopped up and when it land a beautiful white lily remained. James looked genuinely shocked.

"How did you…?" He was lost for words. Lily shrugged.

"I did a bit of extra reading this summer. Just to stay ahead." She replied blushing, knowing she was showing her geeky side. He simply looked impressed though and asked her to teach him how to do it. From then on they studied a lot together. They found that they actually had a lot in common, however both also had a secret feeling of excitement at the thought of being with the other. But neither voiced it. Another factor had a lot to do with their best friends not being around. Sirius was constantly making ridiculous excuses and disappearing off around the castle with the marauders map, and Emily was always off going to see a friend in Ravenclaw or going to see a professor about a piece of homework. Lily and James were non the wiser of their other antics though, their head duties mixed with their busy work schedules as well as quidditch season beginning for James there was no time to think about what their friends were up to. October rolled around and the group were so busy that the time had just flown by.

One late evening Emily snuck along the corridor, her feet gently tip toeing along as she peered round corners and snuck through the castle. She reached about half way down a corridor when a hand grabbed out and grabbed her and yanked her into a dark alcove.

She squealed as she was pulled flush against a warm body and a hand was placed over her mouth. She smelt the familiar smell of Sirius and she relaxed into his arms.

"Shhh," He whispered gently into her ear, which made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. His deep voice always had that affect on her. "Filch is on the prowl." He added and she nodded without saying anything. They heard footsteps speed up down the corridor followed by some grumpy muttering and then it disappeared in the opposite direction. Emily leaned into Sirius and kissed him gently on the lips, she could feel him smiling against her lips in the dark.

"Mmmm I missed you." He said hugging her and inhaling her scent as he embraced her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I know, it's been difficult to get away this week. It's kind of ridiculous we're still hiding this from everyone but the longer it goes on the more I'm scared of James finding out." Emily said sadly.

"I know, it is ridiculous. James is your brother, and my best friend. Surely he would be happy. It's killing me not telling my own best mate who my girlfriend is." Sirius said without really thinking. He froze slightly after his last statement and pulled back from Emily. She was a bit surprised but smirked.

"Oh, so I'm your girlfriend?" Emily asked trying to sound confident as she hid her insecurity.

"Well, I mean, um, I guessed as we've been hanging out so much… and I mean I haven't been seeing anyone else. Have you been seeing anyone else?" Sirius asked sounding slightly alarmed. She just giggled.

"Of course I haven't Sirius. Why would I want to kiss anyone else apart from my gorgeous… boyfriend." She said smiling whilst leaning in to kiss him.

He kissed her back forcefully, ecstatic about what she'd said. He grabbed a hand full of her hair and switched positions so she was leaning against a wall and he was towering over her. He ran his hand down her back and rested it on her backside and pulled her closer towards him. She moaned as he rubbed himself closely on her and he smiled into the kiss loving it when he made her make those noises. She ran her hands up his chest and he tipped her head back and attacked her neck with gentle kisses. Their breathing increased and Sirius reached down and started undoing the buttons of Emily's white button down shirt. He kissed down her chest as he revealed more skin and she closed her eyes at his touch. She could feel him pressing into her lower stomach and it gave her butterflies in her stomach to know how aroused he was. He got her shirt fully undone and starting dotting kisses down her chest, his hands followed and massaged her breasts over her bra. Her nipples hardened at his touch and she gasped. She then pulled away from him and pulled his hands down to his sides. He looked confused, and very frustrated at being made to stop. She giggled at his bottom lip sticking out in a pout and she leaned in a nibbled it before whispering in his ear.

"How about we go somewhere a bit more discreet?" She said seductively low as her voice blew gently into his ear, "Somewhere with a bed perhaps."

He kissed her cheek gently before taking her hand and leading her out of the alcove. She resisted though and he looked back at her. She motioned her shirt and he smirked and waited a moment while she buttoned it back up. Then he grabbed her hand and they ran quietly through the halls giggling to themselves. They reached the third floor corridor in no time and Sirius made Emily stand back while he paced quietly back and forth before a ancient wooden door appeared where a blank wall had before been. He opened the door and turned to Emily who raised a cheeky eyebrow before walking past him into the room. She looked around and saw a small intimate room before her, a four poster bed in the corner and a few pieces of furniture lay around the room.

Emily turned to Sirius and smiled shyly up at him, he walked forward and took her hand and kissed it gently whilst looking into her eyes.

"Emily, I just want you to know how much I care about you and that you know that if you're not ready we don't have to." Sirius said quietly whilst rubbing gentle circles into her hand. She smiled up at him, trying not to let her nerves show.

"Sirius, I trust you. I want to do this." Then she quickly pulled him to her and kissed him with as much passion as she could muster. They walked over to the bed whilst trying to remain attached. Emily's back hit the base of the bed and they stopped. Emily ran her hands to Sirius' belt and pulled his shirt out of his trousers. Then slowly undid the buttons whilst Sirius watched, his breathing ragged with anticipation. They divested each other of their clothes bar their underwear and they climbed onto the bed.

They lay next to each other and Sirius ran his hand gently up Emily's side, stroking her soft skin as she lay looking up at him. He could sense her hesitation.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently leaning in and kissing her forehead. She nodded gently.

"I'm just… I just want you to know… well… this is embarrassing. But…" She hesitated then blurted out. "Thisismyfirsttime." Then she pulled a pillow over her head and hid her embarrassment from him. He just grinned.

"Hey," He said reaching over and pulling her out from her hiding place. "I'm glad you told me. As far as I'm concerned this is my first time too, as it's the first time it ever meant something to me. So please don't think that I would mind. But if you don't want to do this now then I would totally understand." He said sweetly as he ran a hand through a strand of her hand. She smiled and moved to put a leg either side of him. She then leaned in and kissed him.

"I don't think I've ever wanted to do anything more." She said, his eyes widened and then he pulled her body quickly off him so he was then on top and she lay underneath his broad body. He kissed from her lips down to her neck and down to her chest. He undid her bra and gently pulled it away from her body. Her nipples hardened the second they felt the air, he kissed down her chest and latched onto her nipples making her arch her back and gasp as his tongue moved over her hardened bud with ease. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, he groaned at her touch. It almost sounded like a growl.

He continued his movement down her body and kissed until he reached her panties. He reaches down and slowly peels her underwear off. Her breathing increased with nerves and Sirius moved back up her body to lay gentle kisses her on her lips and moves his body full over hers. He reaches down and parts her legs and moves down to take his boxers off. Emily looks down and blushes. He kissed her fiercely on the lips at he leans his hips into her and as Emily gasps with a little pain and surprise they both lose themselves in each other for the first time.

In other parts of the castle completely unaware of what his sister was up to with his best friend James Potter sighed with exasperation as he routed through his trunk.

"Sirius has nicked the bloody map again. I can't understand why he needs it so much, I mean what the hell is he up to?" James said throwing stuff from one side of the room to the other searching. Peter just laughed.

"Come on Prongs, we both know it's a girl. What else could capture our charmer of a friends attention?" Peter said flicking through a wizard paper. James just shrugged.

"I just expected him the day before the full moon to be around more. I mean Remus is down in the hospital wing and Padfoot is nowhere to be seen. He should be around." Prongs said frustrated with his search, just sat down on his bed and gave up.

"Come on Prongs, its not like you're exactly around much either. Between head duties, quidditch, school work and spending time with your new crush. I don't think any of us have exactly been overwhelmed with your presence either." Peter said to his friend. "Give Sirius a break, he's allowed to have other interests. I wish I had a girl to distract me…" Peter added from behind his paper. James huffed and stood up to leave.

"I'm going to see Remus, and I don't have a crush on Lily!" He said as he walked out of the dorm room door.

"Who said I was talking about Lily." Peter said quietly chuckling to himself.

The next few weeks flew by and Lily noticed a change in Emily, she was constantly distracted and often smiling to herself. Lily had thought her friend might have divulged whom her secret rendezvous were with. She still disappeared on a regular basis and had yet to tell Lily, or ever hint that it was in fact a boy who she was disappearing for. But Lily didn't press it as she didn't like to pry, and also she was equally busy with her work schedule and prefect duties so she was glad Emily had someone to keep her busy.

One weekend Lily was sat with James, Remus and Peter in the main hall eating their lunch. Sirius and Emily were noticeably absent, which was unusual, as Sirius never missed a meal. James was teasing Lily as per usual.

"I am not going to come and be a quidditch cheerleader Potter." Lily said taking a sip of her drink and looking at James incredulously.

"Come on! I need the support when my team win all their games and go on to win the cup. It's only right we have a good support system!" He said with a deadly serious look on his face, he did have the tiniest twitch of a smirk at the last part.

"No way, I don't even know the rules. Ask one of your fifth year fan club! They follow you round like puppy dogs anyway. I'm sure they would love to help." Lily said looking down the table at a group of girls who all blushed and looked away when James peered their way. He grimaced though and looked at Lily.

"No thank you. They tried to slip me a love potion last week." He said looking a bit scared. He changed his face quickly though and grinned at Lily, "So I was thinking about the costumes, something in red and gold obviously I was thinking a little skirt thing with…" He carried on and Lily laughed but James stopped talking when the group saw through the main hall doors a dark haired figure run through the entrance hall and up the main stairs. Lily stood up and looked at the boys.

"Sorry James I'm going to have to leave you with your perverted little imagination to go see what's wrong. I'll see you later for patrol." Lily said as she walked out of the hall leaving the boys wondering what was wrong with Emily.

Lily darted up the stairs and went straight for the Gryffindor common room. She quickly ran up the staircase and could hear a muffled noise coming from her dorm. She pushed the door slowly open and could hear crying coming from Emily's bed which had all the curtains closed around it. Lily rushed over and peeked into the hangings, Emily was curled up in a ball crying her eyes out into a pillow. Lily pulled the curtain fully back letting her friend know she was there.

"Em' whats happened?" Lily asked sitting down next to her friend. Emily stopped crying so heavily but didn't say anything. "Come on Em. You can tell me anything. What's wrong?" Lily added softly. Em sniffled and sat up.

"I've been a complete idiot Lily." Emily said whilst her tears ran down her face. Lily felt alarmed for her friend never having ever seen her this upset.

"You have to tell me what's happened Em. I'm sure it's not that bad." Lily said. Emily almost snorted but instead let out another cry.

"James is going to kill me when he finds out." Emily said. Lily just stayed quiet waiting for her friend to explain.

"You know I've been disappearing a lot recently and telling you I was studying, or seeing a friend." Emily began. "Well I wasn't seeing a friend, I was meeting a guy I've been dating. It started as a bit of fun but it got serious." She hiccupped from all her tears and continued. "Well we started getting more serious so I decided to… to…" She stopped as she started crying too much. Lily rubbed her friends back till she could carry on.

"I slept with him Lily and now I've found out he's a total jerk. I should have known better. He seemed so nice and I thought I knew him so well. But I just found him snogging some Slytherin slut down by the quidditch pitch where I was meant to meet him." She hiccupped again and let out another round of sobs. Lily felt so sorry for her friend but she was still a little confused.

"Em I am so sorry, that idiot obviously doesn't know what he's doing if he would lose you. I'm a little confused though. Why do you think James will kill you though if he finds out, if anything he'll kill the guy surely?" Lily asked. Emily looked a bit scared at this and looked at Lily.

"Lily this is the part that I've been hiding the most these past few months." She said sitting up and looking fearfully at Lily. "The guy I've been seeing… it's Sirius."


	8. 8 Secrets Out

**Chapter 8 - Secrets Out**

"Sirius? As in Sirius Black." Lily asked in complete disbelief. Emily nodded.

"Yeah the one and the same. My brothers fucking best friend. What was I thinking?" Emily said lying back on her bed with her head in her hands.

"Emily when did this start?" Lily asked making Emily looked even guiltier.

"Over the summer at the party you came to." Emily said. Lily's eyes bugged.

"Em that was months ago. James is going to kill you both when he finds out!" Lily said.

"Don't you think I know that? That's why we kept it secret, as we knew he'd hit the roof and we wanted to see if it was going to go anywhere. But then it got easy to hide and then we slept together and we realised we were going to have to tell him. Then I find him down on the pitch with some little slut. Now if James finds out he'll kill Sirius for sure. Not that I wouldn't want that right now." Emily said sobbing and running her hands through her hair. Lily had never seen her friend so upset.

"Are you sure that you saw what you saw?" Lily asked. "I mean we have to make sure we have all the information." Lily was ever the rationalist.

"I know what I saw, he was down at the pitch and he was k-kissing her." Emily hiccupped out. Lily nodded and felt more confused, she knew how much he cared about Emily, she didn't know about their romantic links but she knew well enough he would do anything for her anyway. It just didn't make sense for him to do this.

Lily sat with her friend for a while longer rubbing her back and telling her it was going to be okay. Although at this point she wasn't sure if she believed that herself. Thank god it was a weekend day so they could just hide from the rest of school.

In other areas of the school Sirius found himself waking up on the quidditch pitch with a huge headache. He sat up and rubbed his head trying to remember how he had got there. The last thing he remembered was some Slytherin girl walking up to him, he recognised her as one of the girls his cousin Bella hung around with. She had said something about blood and some rubbish about loyalties and he had told her to piss off. That was the last thing he remembered. What a cow, he thought to himself as he got up and took off towards the hall to have lunch, whilst wondering what had happened to Emily.

Once he reached the hall he saw the other marauders sitting and eating their lunch. He stomped over to them, thoroughly pissed off about being bested by a Slytherin, and by a girl no less. He plonked himself down next to the boys and piled some food on his plate and sat and glumbled to himself.

"Padfoot, where the hell have you been?" James asked his friend. Sirius just grunted in response.

"You've got mud all over you." Remus commented.

"I don't want to talk about it." Sirius said whilst shovelling his mouth with food. The boys gave up and they finished lunch. As they all rose to get up and go outside Sirius remembered he had meant to see Emily that lunch time.

"Hey guys, have you seen Emily around?" He asked trying to sound casual. "I wanted to get this… quill… I leant to her."

"Yeah, Lily took off after her earlier, she looked upset about something. Probably girl problems. I was going to go and check on her but I didn't want to have to talk about periods or boys with my sister." James said shuddering at the thought. Sirius looked up quickly at what James said but didn't want to let on that he was bothered.

"I just need to go grab something from upstairs. I'll catch you guys up in a bit okay." Sirius said sprinting off in the opposite direction. The boys looked at Sirius, his behaviour today was weird even for him.

"What do you think he's up to?" James asked Remus. Remus shrugged.

"I don't think even Sirius even knows what he's thinking half the time." Peter said. They walked down the front lawn to go and sit in their usual spot down by the lake. They were just half way down when they spotted a few Slytherins lurking about; Severus Snape amongst them as well as Sirius' cousin Bella. They spotted the marauders and something quiet was said and a laugh went through the group, Bella laughing the highest in her usual maniacal way.

James ignored the group and carried on walking. The group continued to laugh though and one boy even called out.

"Hey Potter, where's your sister?" The boys called and the group laughed even louder. At this James stopped and glared at the group.

"What do you know about my sister Knot?" James spat at the boy.

"Well I heard she's pretty easy to get to know actually." He responded arrogantly. "Why don't you ask your blood traitor best friend?" James glared at him as he walked quickly over to him and slowly pulled his wand out. The Slytherins continued to laugh and Bella cackled and spoke.

"Baby Potter isn't the little angel she used to be," She said cryptically.

"Why don't you watch what you say you stupid bitch. Before I make you shut up." James said starting to get seriously angry whilst pointing his wand at the Slytherin.

"James don't be so touchy. You should be happy about your best friend screwing your little sister. At least if she gets knocked her the baby will have pure blood." Bella said now laughing to hard she was bending over like a crazy person. She raised her head after her laughing fit and looked at James. Peter and Remus stood either side of him nervously.

"Bella why do you always have to be so poisonous? You're lies and trouble making is just getting pathetic now." James said. "You're so obsessed with your pure blood mania that you don't care who you piss off."

"Lies and trouble making?" Bella said in a mock sweet tone. "Me? I wouldn't think of it. I thought you knew about my little cousin and your little sister. Oops. Did I let the secret out the bag?" Bella mocked and put her hand over her mouth. James took a step forward and his hand shook with anger.

"Stop trying to cause problems between me and my family. You don't know what you're talking about Black." James spat out finally before turning to storm away.

"Ah-ah-ah golden boy. I would never lie about something so juicy. Ask little Snapey here. He's the one who saw them." Bellatrix said motioning for Snape to come forward. Snape looked uncomfortable but knew better than to disobey Bella. James turned around and looked at the greasy haired boy.

"Tell the head boy what you saw Severus." Bellatrix said sweetly. Snape stepped forward and spoke.

"I saw… I saw Sirius Black sneak down into the castle one night and he walked into a classroom. I looked inside and Emily was there waiting for him. They were kissing and… well I won't go into too much detail." Snape said slyly smirking at the end. James launched himself at Snape and Remus and Peter had to use all their strength to hold him back.

"You lying little snake. They would never…" James said furiously.

"Come on Potter don't be dense. Your best friend had been banging your sister right under your nose and you didn't even realise. You must be feeling pretty stupid right now." Bellatrix said. The Slytherins all laughed and James shook Remus and Peter off him.

James said nothing as he took a few steps back and looked totally dumbfounded. He then turned and sprinted towards the castle. Remus and Peter took off after him but James had a big head start.

Up in the common room Sirius burst through the portrait entrance and ran over to the girl's staircase. He looked around and luckily the common room was empty as it was a nice day so the majority of students were outside. He quickly shook the left banister in a special way and the staircase became safe for male students to walk up. A trick he had learned before his relationship with Emily. He sprinted up the stairs and banged on the 6th year girls dorm. No one answered so he slowly peeked inside and saw Lily sat with Emily comforting her in her bed.

"Emily," He called out quietly. Lily and Emily looked sharply over to the door and Lily looked surprised and Emily looked furious.

"Get out of here Sirius. I never want to speak to you again!" Emily said standing up and running into the bathroom. Sirius walked into the doorway and looked heart broken as Emily stormed out. He looked over to Lily and looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Um… I'm guessing Emily told you about… us." Sirius said quietly.

"Yeah she told me. But what I don't understand is what happened?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. One minute I'm waiting for Em down by the quidditch pitch and the next minute some Slytherin slut is talking to me and then I wake up on the pitch with a sore head. Someone needs to fill me in quickly!" Sirius said getting really panicked.

"What? So you didn't kiss that girl? Emily said she saw your kissing her." Lily said.

"What? Are you kidding me? I would rather lick Peter's armpit. That must have confunded me or something as I don't remember any of that and I will happily take veritaserum or any other number of tests to prove that it isn't true. Emily saw that! Shit. She must be furious." He walked across the room and started knocking on the bathroom door.

"Emily! Emily I didn't cheat on you. That Slytherin whore cursed me and I don't remember any of it. I promise you I would never do that to you. Please believe me!" Sirius called through the door while incessantly knocking. No noise came in return though. Sirius wasn't giving up though.

"Emily, please! I went down to meet you there. Even if I did want to meet another girl, which I don't! why would I meet them where I am due to meet you. Also why would I meet with a Slytherin girl when you and I both know I hate Slytherin with a fiery passion? Finally why would I want to even talk to another girl when I am completely and madly in love with you." Sirius took a step back at the last part of his speech. He was pretty shocked that he had blurted this out. He turned to look at Lily, as he was a bit embarrassed that this had been blurted out in front of his girlfriend's best friend for the first time. But instead of noticing Lily when he turned around he saw a very out of breathe James Potter standing in the doorway looking entirely shocked at Sirius. He was bent over breathing heavily and when he looked up Sirius knew he was in trouble.

"You – piece – of – shit – Sirius." James wheezed out.

"James, I can explain." Sirius said anxiously looking at his best friend who he had never seen so angry.

"Explain what? Explain that you've been banging my sister? Or that you've been hiding it from me?" James barked out. Lily stood in the middle of the room and watched the conversation like a tennis match.

"It wasn't meant to be like this James. I just didn't want to tell you before we knew if it was real or not." Sirius said, complete desperation on his face.

"How could you Sirius? I've watched you treat girls like crap for years and now you think you're going to get your leg over my sister. You must be fucking mad." James said running his hand through his hair.

"James, I don't want that. It's not like it was before. I really care about her; you know I would do anything for her. I've always looked out for her." Sirius said trying to reason with him. He watched at James paced nearer to him.

"And I had to find out from your filthy pure blood mad cousin. If it didn't piss me off already hearing it from her was the icing on the cake. I can't believe you kept this from me. We tell each other everything and you completely lied to my face so many times. I wonder what else you've lied to me about. How long has it been going on? Did it start at my house? I bet you were fucking sneaking around my back in my own house weren't you." James was pacing back and forth, literally furious. Sirius face showed his guilt and then Remus and Peter appeared in the doorway but kept quiet.

"James I never meant to hurt you. I really care about her… I … I love her." Sirius said quietly and at this last comment James swung his hand back and punched Sirius squarely in the face and knocked him clean off his feet.


End file.
